Les Epesses

Vendée · CC du Pays des Herbiers · INSEE 85082

A food shop, a school and somewhere to eat or drink.

Served 66.2/100 · confidence: high· Better served than 97 % of the {n|commune|communes} of a similar size.

Identity

Les Epesses (INSEE 85082) is in Vendée (85), part of CC du Pays des Herbiers. Population 2,983 (2023). ^[1]

INSEE density class: Bourgs ruraux (level 5). ^[2]

Data vintages: INSEE BPE 2025 · INSEE SIRENE 2026-09 · INSEE census (RP) 2023 · INSEE COG 2026 · INSEE density grid 2026 · Commune website 2026-10-24.

Permanent link: https://vivantrural.com/en/fr/85082-les-epesses

Vitality score

Vitality score 66.2/100 — Served (model fr-v0.2).

Confidence: high.

Better served than 97 % of the 7,155 communes of a similar size.

Compare this with communes of a similar size. The score measures how well a place is served relative to its own size band, and larger communes score higher as a rule — so it reads meaningfully against another village, and misleadingly against a town.

Measured but not scored in this model: Market. See the methodology for why.

Component	Value (0–1)	Weight	Contribution
Daily food	0.39	25	9.84
Social	0.91	20	18.15
Education	0.63	10	6.32
Health	0.63	10	6.29
Public & culture	0.39	5	1.97
Population trend	0.92	10	9.16
Housing mix	0.9	5	4.51

Services

What is here, at a glance

Food 3 of 6

Eating out 1 of 1

Cafés and bars 1 of 1

Schools 1 of 3

Health 2 of 4

Public services 1 of 1

Culture 1 of 2

Sport 1 of 2

Everyday services 3 of 3

Lodging 2 of 2

One square per service type, shaded by how many: none, one, a few, five or more. A blank square means none was counted — the sources do not distinguish “none here” from “not counted”.

A food shop, a school and somewhere to eat or drink. ^[3,4]

1 × Bakery (boulangerie) (LE PUY DES DELICES). ^[3,4]

1 × Butcher (boucherie) (CHARCUTERIE RAPIN). ^[3]

1 × Supermarket (PUYMAJE). ^[3,4]

6 × Restaurant (CHEZ PONPON · SARL BIGAUD FRERES · LA PUYFOLAISE DE RESTAURATION D323 · LA PUYFOLAISE DE RESTAURATION D325 · LA PUYFOLAISE DE RESTAURATION D323H). ^[3,4]

4 × Café / bar (LE CENTRAL). ^[4]

2 × Primary school (élémentaire) (ECOLE PRIMAIRE PUBLIQUE ANTOINE DE SAINT-EXUPERY · ECOLE PRIMAIRE PRIVEE ST-JOSEPH). ^[3]

4 × GP (médecin généraliste) (MARGUERITE DE COURCY, MÉDECIN · LUC DUSENNE, MÉDECIN · FAROUK TOBAL HAMO, MÉDECIN · CATHERINE HARDY, MÉDECIN). ^[3]

1 × Pharmacy. ^[3,4]

1 × Post office / agence postale (LA POSTE). ^[3]

1 × Library (BIBLIOTHÈQUE DES EPESSES LIRE AUX EPESSES). ^[3]

1 × Gym / sports hall (COMPLEXE SPORTIF). ^[3]

2 × Bank (CAISSE FEDERALE DU CREDIT MUTUEL OCEAN · CREDIT MUTUEL OCEAN). ^[3]

5 × Hairdresser (NG COIFFURE · MON COIFFEUR MA FAMILLE EXCLUSIF). ^[3,4]

1 × Fuel station (STATION SERVICE). ^[3]

6 × Hotel (GRAND PARC DU PUY DU FOU · HÔTEL TERRAGORA LODGES). ^[3,4]

1 × Campsite (CAMPING LA BRETECHE). ^[3,4]

Not counted, because the business register records them as closed: 1 × Bakery (boulangerie), 1 × Restaurant, 1 × Primary school (élémentaire), 1 × Collège.

Not found in the commune: Grocery (épicerie / supérette), Nursery school (maternelle). ^[3,4]

All 25 service types, with per-source counts

Type	Count	Names	Sources
Bakery (boulangerie)	1	LE PUY DES DELICES	INSEE BPE 1 / INSEE SIRENE 1 [3,4]
Butcher (boucherie)	1	CHARCUTERIE RAPIN	INSEE BPE 1 / INSEE SIRENE 0 [3]
Grocery (épicerie / supérette)	0		INSEE BPE 0 / INSEE SIRENE 0 [3,4]
Supermarket	1	PUYMAJE	INSEE BPE 1 / INSEE SIRENE 1 [3,4]
Cheese shop (fromagerie)	0		INSEE SIRENE 0 [4]
Fishmonger	0		INSEE BPE 0 / INSEE SIRENE 0 [3,4]
Restaurant	6	CHEZ PONPON · SARL BIGAUD FRERES · LA PUYFOLAISE DE RESTAURATION D323 · LA PUYFOLAISE DE RESTAURATION D325 · LA PUYFOLAISE DE RESTAURATION D323H	INSEE BPE 6 / INSEE SIRENE 8 [3,4]
Café / bar	4	LE CENTRAL	INSEE SIRENE 4 [4]
Nursery school (maternelle)	0		INSEE BPE 0 [3]
Primary school (élémentaire)	2	ECOLE PRIMAIRE PUBLIQUE ANTOINE DE SAINT-EXUPERY · ECOLE PRIMAIRE PRIVEE ST-JOSEPH	INSEE BPE 2 [3]
Collège	0		INSEE BPE 0 [3]
GP (médecin généraliste)	4	MARGUERITE DE COURCY, MÉDECIN · LUC DUSENNE, MÉDECIN · FAROUK TOBAL HAMO, MÉDECIN · CATHERINE HARDY, MÉDECIN	INSEE BPE 4 [3]
Pharmacy	1		INSEE BPE 1 / INSEE SIRENE 1 [3,4]
Nurse	0		INSEE BPE 0 [3]
Dentist	0		INSEE BPE 0 [3]
Post office / agence postale	1	LA POSTE	INSEE BPE 1 [3]
Library	1	BIBLIOTHÈQUE DES EPESSES LIRE AUX EPESSES	INSEE BPE 1 [3]
Cinema	0		INSEE BPE 0 [3]
Gym / sports hall	1	COMPLEXE SPORTIF	INSEE BPE 1 [3]
Swimming pool	0		INSEE BPE 0 [3]
Bank	2	CAISSE FEDERALE DU CREDIT MUTUEL OCEAN · CREDIT MUTUEL OCEAN	INSEE BPE 2 [3]
Hairdresser	5	NG COIFFURE · MON COIFFEUR MA FAMILLE EXCLUSIF	INSEE BPE 5 / INSEE SIRENE 5 [3,4]
Fuel station	1	STATION SERVICE	INSEE BPE 1 / INSEE SIRENE 0 [3]
Hotel	6	GRAND PARC DU PUY DU FOU · HÔTEL TERRAGORA LODGES	INSEE BPE 6 / INSEE SIRENE 2 [3,4]
Campsite	1	CAMPING LA BRETECHE	INSEE BPE 1 / INSEE SIRENE 2 [3,4]

Market and village life

Market day: unknown — nothing found in the datasets or on the commune website.

Trajectory

1968: 1,876 2023: 2,983 axis from zero, so the slope compares with any other commune

Population 2,709 (2012) → 2,983 (2023): 10.1 % over 10 years. ^[5,1]

Population 2,107 (1990) → 2,983 (2023): 41.6 % over 30 years. ^[6,1]

Dwellings (2023): 1,391, of which 4.9 % second homes and 4.4 % vacant. ^[7]

Access and surroundings

Which way the everyday services lie

In the commune Bakery, Food shop, Primary school, GP Pharmacy — 6.2 km S Straight-line, from the mairie, in the direction given. Services in the same town share a spoke. Distance is not travel time: a pass or an estuary can double it.

Bakery (Les Epesses): 0.1 km to the west (straight line). ^[8]

Food shop (Les Epesses): 0.1 km to the north-east (straight line). ^[8]

GP (Les Epesses): 0.2 km to the south-east (straight line). ^[8]

Pharmacy (Sèvremont): 6.2 km to the south (straight line). ^[9]

Primary school (Les Epesses): 0.1 km to the south-east (straight line). ^[8]

Climate

Where this sits nationally

Days at or above 30 °C 14.3

Days at or below 0 °C 24.8

Muggy days a summer 2.1

Each track runs from the 5th to the 95th percentile of the 34,141 communes with that measurement; the tick is the median. A value beyond either end sits at the end and is marked ▸.

An average of 14 days a year at or above 30 °C and 25 days at or below 0 °C, over 30 complete years in 1995–2024. ^[10]

Measured at the POUZAUGES SA weather station, 14.1 km away at 153 m; the village itself is at 189 m. ^[10]

Muggy days — a dew point at or above 18 °C — average 2 days a summer. ^[10]

Humidity measured at POUZAUGES SA, 14.1 km away at 153 m, over 20 summers. ^[10]

An average of 900 mm of rain a year, spread over 128 days — about 7 mm on a day it rains. ^[10]

Rainfall measured at LES HERBIERS, 9.5 km away at 103 m. Rainfall is not adjusted for altitude: unlike temperature it has no simple gradient to correct by. ^[10]

Uncertainties

No specific uncertainties flagged.

References

INSEE census (RP) 2023 — 85082/2023
INSEE density grid 2026
INSEE BPE 2025
INSEE SIRENE 2026-09
INSEE census (RP) 2023 — 85082/2012
INSEE census (RP) 2023 — 85082/1990
INSEE census (RP) 2023 — 85082/logement/2023
INSEE BPE 2025 — 85082
INSEE BPE 2025 — 85090
Météo-France daily climatology 1995-2024

Villages like this one

Matched on size, density, second homes and which everyday shops and services are present — not on the score, so a village of the same kind that is doing better or worse shows up rather than being hidden.

Commune	Dept	Distance	Population	Score	Band	Climate vs here
Pontonx-sur-l'Adour	40	344 km S	3,021	44.8	Partly served	Warmer summers and colder winters.Summers feel more humid.summer 26 % · winter 69 % · humidity 43 %
Broons	22	189 km NW	2,943	72.8	Served	Cooler summers, similar winters.Summers feel about as humid.summer 82 % · winter 85 % · humidity 93 %
Saint-Didier-sur-Chalaronne	01	444 km E	2,934	63.2	Served	Warmer summers and colder winters.summer 44 % · winter 81 %
Port-sur-Saône	70	531 km E	2,949	62.9	Served	Similar summers, colder winters.Summers feel about as humid.summer 97 % · winter 42 % · humidity 93 %
Pontacq	64	416 km S	2,925	68.8	Served	Similar summers, colder winters.Summers feel more humid.summer 97 % · winter 76 % · humidity 64 %
Auneuil	60	350 km NE	2,898	55	Partly served	Similar summers, colder winters.Summers feel about as humid.summer 92 % · winter 68 % · humidity 93 %

Order by distance instead

Commune	Dept	Distance	Population	Score	Band	Climate vs here
Broons	22	189 km NW	2,943	72.8	Served	Cooler summers, similar winters.Summers feel about as humid.summer 82 % · winter 85 % · humidity 93 %
Pontonx-sur-l'Adour	40	344 km S	3,021	44.8	Partly served	Warmer summers and colder winters.Summers feel more humid.summer 26 % · winter 69 % · humidity 43 %
Auneuil	60	350 km NE	2,898	55	Partly served	Similar summers, colder winters.Summers feel about as humid.summer 92 % · winter 68 % · humidity 93 %
Pontacq	64	416 km S	2,925	68.8	Served	Similar summers, colder winters.Summers feel more humid.summer 97 % · winter 76 % · humidity 64 %
Saint-Didier-sur-Chalaronne	01	444 km E	2,934	63.2	Served	Warmer summers and colder winters.summer 44 % · winter 81 %
Port-sur-Saône	70	531 km E	2,949	62.9	Served	Similar summers, colder winters.Summers feel about as humid.summer 97 % · winter 42 % · humidity 93 %

Sort and compare these on the full list →

…and in much the same climate

The same match on size and services, narrowed to communes whose summers, winters and summer humidity are all close to Les Epesses's. All three are required, so this section is absent for the 11.8 % of communes with no humidity station near enough to measure: two temperature axes alone cannot tell a muggy coast from a dry one.

Commune	Dept	Distance	Population	Score	Band	Climate vs here
Maulévrier	49	18 km NE	3,172	49.8	Partly served	Much the same temperatures.Summers feel about as humid.summer 95 % · winter 89 % · humidity 100 %
Grand-Fougeray	35	112 km NW	2,584	66.9	Served	Much the same temperatures.Summers feel about as humid.summer 95 % · winter 99 % · humidity 100 %
Port-Saint-Père	44	70 km NW	3,059	45.7	Partly served	Much the same temperatures.Summers feel about as humid.summer 97 % · winter 96 % · humidity 93 %
Bouloire	72	163 km NE	2,127	54.2	Partly served	Much the same temperatures.Summers feel about as humid.summer 100 % · winter 85 % · humidity 93 %
Le Boupère	85	10 km S	3,151	38.2	Few services	Much the same temperatures.Summers feel about as humid.summer 100 % · winter 100 % · humidity 100 %
Rieux	56	121 km NW	2,856	52.2	Partly served	Much the same temperatures.Summers feel about as humid.summer 92 % · winter 91 % · humidity 100 %

Elsewhere

Commune website · Wikipedia (en) ·Wikipedia (fr) · INSEE dossier complet · OpenStreetMap · Web search · Map

Permanent link: https://vivantrural.com/en/fr/85082-les-epesses